The Landis Ride

It was gun show day today. For those who don't know, every Thursday here at work we have a competitive lunch ride. We roll out at noon, pick up the guys from Saris and beat each other up for 20 miles. There are 3 sprints, and we regroup after each sprint. I missed the gun show last week, but the previous two weeks I dominated the first sprint. Today....not so much.

I don't know why I thought I could go as early as I did on the first sprint and hold it, but I didn't come close to dominating today. Coming off the final hill into Paoli, I dropped the hammer and pulled a gap on the group. I was flying. I put my head down and hammered away. Then I looked up and saw the sprint point was way out there. I was spent. I looked back and there they were, just waiting for me to die. And die, I did. It's funny how you can pull a gap on a group so quickly and then hit the wall just as fast and they pass you like you're tied to a pole. That's cycling.

I had nothing left for the second sprint and got dropped early on. Then Cate attacked early on the third sprint and broke up the group. I hung back with the 2nd chase group. Once we hit Seminole, I tried to pull Chris and Rachel up to the chase group, but I couldn't do it. I pulled at 29 mph most of the way, but that was 30-32 mph 2 days ago and that would've been enough to close the gap. Oh well. You can't have it everyday.

About a year ago, Floyd Landis joined us on the gun show (looking for a ride, I guess). It was a few weeks after his hip surgery. He had been accused of doping, but we didn't bring it up on the ride. We didn't believe it. He was innocent. Floyd wouldn't cheat. It was fun telling people I got to ride with the winner of the Tour de France. It was a great story. Well....today the verdict came in. He was found guilty of doping and stipped of his Tour de France title. So now I can no longer tell people I rode with the winner of the Tour. Thanks for ruining my story, Floyd.

So far this week I've logged 8 hours of training, and I'm only halfway. My weeks run Monday through Sunday so I still have the whole weekend. No problemo. Next week is going to be brutal - 18.5 hours of training. That's a part-time job. Then...my first recovery week (8 - 10 hours of training) and my first rest day: October 1. That's also the day I go in for physical therapy for my knee.

Since Moe (that's Cheri, my girlfriend...I call her Moe...it stands for Margin of Error...we met in a stats class...long story) has requested more pictures, here's a picture of Floyd: